How to Play Texas Hold’em

So you want to learn how to play Texas Hold’em? It shouldn’t be too difficult. Texas Hold’em is a fairly easy game to learn. Unlike other poker games like Omaha High or the 7-card Stud, Texas Hold’em only involves a few possibilities, thus it’s easy to calculate the odds. However, if you want to learn how to play Texas Hold’em, you must play and you must play often.

A Texas Hold’em game goes like this. Most games begin when two players to the left of the dealer post two initial bets called the “blinds.” The amount of the blinds is set according to the betting structure agreed upon. So if the Texas Hold’em betting structure used is $2/4, then it means that the minimum bet for the first two rounds is $1 and $2 for the last two rounds.

After the blinds are posted, the Texas Hold’em dealer shuffles a 52-card deck and start dealing two cards face down to each player. These Texas Hold’em cards are called “pocket cards” or sometimes “hole.” In most Texas Hold’em game instances, the pocket cards are the edge that players need in order to form the winning hand.

The first Texas Hold’em betting round begins, starting with the player to the left of the two who posted the blinds. Players can check (pass), raise, or fold (forfeit) during each round in a Texas Hold’em game. When the initial round is completed, the dealer discards the top card (“burn”) in the deck and turns over three cards at the center of the table. These Texas Hold’em cards are called the “flop” and are the first three of the five community cards that the players use to make their Texas Hold’em poker hand.

Another Texas Hold’em betting round begins and afterwards, the dealer burns another card and flips open the fourth card, called the “turn.” The third betting round follows, beginning with the Texas Hold’em player to the left of the dealer. When the round is completed, the dealer burns a card and places the fifth and final community card on the Texas Hold’em table. This card is called the “river.”

With five of the community cards revealed and the two pocket cards they have, the players can now form their 5-card Texas Hold’em poker hands. A final Texas Hold’em betting round follows and after that, the players who are left (some players may have folded during the initial rounds) begin the “showdown” of their Texas Hold’em poker hands. The first one to reveal his card is the player sitting to the left of the last player who made the call. The player with the best hand wins the Texas Hold’em game.